Why Good Things Happen to Bad People?

 It is often asked, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

To try and answer that question today, I'm going to talk about "Why do Good things happen to bad people".

One of the strangest lawsuits in US court history was filed on September 14, 2007.

It was filed by Nebraska Senator Ernie Chambers.

First elected to represent North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature in 1970, Chambers was successfully re-elected in every ensuing election through 2004.

On April 25, 2005, Chambers became Nebraska's longest-serving state senator, having served for more than 35 years.

He was seeking to stop evil and injustice in the world, and he actually filed a lawsuit against God. The lawsuit sought a permanent injunction against God's interference in this world.

Senator Chambers said of God, "He has allowed certain harmful activities to exist that have caused grave harm to innumerable people in the world."

The lawsuit charged God with causing fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, tornadoes, plagues, famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like.

Chambers continued in the lawsuit, saying that God has allowed "calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction, and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged, and infirm without mercy or distinction."

Eventually the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.

I find it interesting, as well as amusing, that the Nebraska court ruled they could not properly notify God because they did not have his address.

Senator Chambers, on the other hand, disagreed with the ruling.

He claimed that because God is omniscient and knows everything, he should have known he was being sued and appeared in court to defend himself.

While we may ridicule Senator Chambers for his ill-reasoned accusations, and claims, we might want to recognize his honesty.

At this point you may be asking me "Why would I want to recognize his honesty"?

Well, you see, Chambers is not alone in seeking to put God on trial.  For centuries, people have put God on trial.

Whenever humanity is faced with the incongruities of life—that bad things happen to good people, or worse, that good things happen to bad people—God goes on trial.

I find myself doing the same thing sometimes when I watch all the senseless killing on the evening news. 

Or the devastation and deaths wreaked by natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, eathquakes and flooding.

To get some insight on this question, let's turn in our Bibles to Psalm 73.

This is where we meet Asaph.

Asaph is identified with twelve Psalms and is said to be an ancestor of the Asaphites.

The Asaphites were one of the guilds of musicians in the First Temple. This information is clarified in the Books of Chronicles.

In Chronicles, it is said that Asaph is identified as a member of the Levites.

He is also known as one of the three Levites commissioned by David to be in charge of the singing in the house of Yahweh.

In Psalms 73, God is on trial in this lament.

The psalmist functions more as the defense attorney than the prosecuting attorney.

Psalm 73 begins the third book of the Psalter, which is the collection of some of Israel's prized hymns, ballads, and congregational hymns.

As most of us know, not every psalm was composed by David. In fact, not all of the psalms, as we have them in our English Bibles, are recorded chronologically.

They are compiled in an instructive theological order: an order that is designed to shed light on the unpredictable path of life.

That's why the psalmist can say in Psalm 119, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

There are five seperate books in the Psalms.  Book three is the smallest of the five, with 17 psalms.  This is where we find Psalm 73.

Much like Leviticus, the third book of the Pentateuch, this third book of the psalms focuses acutely on the holiness of God.

That Psalms 73 opens the third book is important for our application of the holiness of God to the ugly aspects of life.

When this Psalter opens, it does so as an invitation to consider the path of wisdom.

It stands as a road sign to contrast two paths of life: one is the way of wisdom, the other the way of wickedness.

It makes no assumptions as to which way you will choose; it only invites you to pick the path of wisdom.

One might think, that those who choose wisdom—that is, those who continue as students and practitioners of the wisdom, would have lives that bleed prosperity.

In real life,this definetly is not so.

Time and time again, Psalm 73 echoes forward to us that even those who live wisely face difficultys, up to and including premature death.

Biblical wisdom is no sure prevention from trouble, but it is a cure for heartache.

According to 1 Chronicles 23:2-5, the 38,000 Levites were divided by David into four divisions.

To the last division of 4,000 was assigned the musical side of worship. Out of this division, a select company of 288 singers was singled out and divided into 24 courses.

These were placed under different song leaders, and of these leaders, Asaph was the chief of sacred music, 1 Chron. 16:5.

Of all people, why would Asaph—the chief worship leader—write something so indicting, scathing, and envious as this psalm?

I'll tell you why. It is because the existential experiences of life can deceive your vision and disrupt your faith.

It is the same reason many people don't pray, don't read the Word of God, and don't trust in God.

It is because a misplaced perspective is our enemy's tool to keep us away from God.

This psalm argues that if you cannot see good in your future, then the problem is not with God, but with your vision.

This text raises the question of perspective: how do we view life when good things happen to bad people?

The text is tailored to teach us that the incongruities of life will destroy your faith unless you regularly enjoy God's presence.

When the incongruities of real life and right theology trespass on the domain of your theological comfort, don't look down, around, or within, but look up.

When the harsh realities of life disrupt your neat theological categories, get to the sanctuary.

It in the sanctuary, you realize that God really is good.

As the curtain rises on Psalm 73, its premise leaps forward.

Look at verse one, it says, "Surely God is good ... to those who are pure in heart."

In other words, God is nothing but good to his covenant people.

Asaph came to realize that in spite of the incongruities of life which is described in verses 3-14, God still, is good.

Though the truth is that God is good, life has real circumstances that force doubt upon us.

When I was growing up, my parents taught us a prayer of thanksgiving that we said before every meal which started out, "God is great, God" is Good, let us thank Him for our food...".

Yet, I don't always see life match up to that proclamation.

As you read this psalm, you can feel the tension in Asaph's lament.

The good news I have for you is that the Christian has the privilege of addressing the perceived contradictions to God.

Scholars tell us that the grammatical construction of verse two intentionally disjoins the thought that "God is good".

There is a clean break at verse two. In it, Asaph sets in contrast his own thoughts and experience against verse one.

In verse two he says, "But as for me".  This is intended to suggest that his experience contradicts the declaration of verse one, where it says, "God is good".

You can feel the tension in Asaph's lament and you can see the comparison.

The good news is that the Christian has the privilege of addressing perceived contradictions to God.

Let me ask you, is this not how life sometimes goes? That there are moments when our experience doesn't line up with what the Bible says it should be.

When wickedness seems to win, when the high courts rule against the will of God, when reckless police officers shoot the unarmed, and when evil men grow in power and influence.

The experience of life does not appear perfectly aligned with the providence of God. In these moments, we can inadvertently trade what we know for what we see.

We can know truth, but experience can cause us to doubt truth. This psalm reminds us that not all truth is visible in its final application.

Some truth is like fruit, like an apple. It is there and alive in seed form, but it has not yet expanded into the final fruit that we can enjoy and eat.

One must appreciate the honest response of the psalmist to the apparent prosperity of the wicked.

You can feel the toil in his reflection?

Verse 2  says, "[M]y feet had almost slipped".

Then verses 4-12 run a list of why he almost stumbled.

These are benefits directly opposed to, or mutually incompatible to the promises made in Psalm 73 verse 1.

In verse 4 he tells us the wicked do not struggle but rather that the bodies of the wicked are "healthy and strong".

The verse suggests that the wicked are strengthened, not weakened.

Look at verses 5,6,and 7, it says,

"They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth about them as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish."

The verses say that the wicked enjoy visible happiness. Externally, they parade their pride like necklaces.

They show off their violent deeds, including those they got away with, like the clothing they wear.

The wicked enjoy internal prosperity just as much as their external happiness. What a combination! They have been so satisfied that their eyes bulge out from fatness. They want for nothing.

Look at verse 7 and 8:

 "They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth."

Asaph is telling us their wicked imaginations come to life. Not only are they free from external threats, but they even enjoy peace of mind, completely untroubled by a good conscience.

The wicked strut through the streets and have taken the place of God in this world.

You can sense that the psalmist is haunted by this. He is tempted to believe that his dedication to God is for nothing.

Do not, for one moment, think these sentiments are unreal to us today.

Look at certain parts of the world to see just how real this is, where injustice rides the coattails of the wicked.

North Korea, the middle east, parts of Africa are just some of the places that come immediately to mind.

What are we to do with this blatant success of the wicked?

But wait, a shift in Asaph's language is coming up.

You see he based this assessment on what some people believe goodness to be. He argued that the goodness of God is demonstrated in a person's life by their material possessions and their physical health.

But, in Psalms 73, Asaph then begins to reckon that the proper criterion for understanding the goodness of God is not health or wealth, but rather the character of God.

To know God is to know that He is good. Conversly, to know that God is good, you have to know God.

I can identify from my past, in a lesser, lighter way.

In the seventh grade, I asked my parents for a particular brand of cologne for Christmas.  The brand I wanted was quite expensive for someone my age.  I needed it to make the right impression on a particular girl I liked.

We were not poor, but there were six of us in the family and money was tight.  My dad worked hard, sometimes two jobs, to to ensure that we had a home, food to eat, and cloths on our backs.  There was little money left over for frivolous things.

They could not afford to buy me the brand of cologne that I wanted, so they purchased one of the imitation brands.

Needless to say I was disappointment in the gift and also blamed the cologne and my parents when it didn't impress the girl of my affection in the least.

Anyone could see that my parents were good parents, but, if you were to ask me the question—"Robert, are your parents good to you?", my response on that Christmas season would not have been very positive.

It is not that my parents were not good to me; it was that I was not looking in the right place for a demonstration of their goodness.

After a while, Asaph was able to say that God is good because he started looking in the right place to see God's goodness.

He looked at God's abiding character and faithfulness.

Life needs upward perspective

All of life is lived from a chosen point of view.

That is not to say reality is determined by perspective, but it is to say that reality is shaded by perspective.

Asaph examined his personal sacrifice for God and counted it wasted.

In vain he kept his life from the stain of vice. His faith seemed worthless. In honest reflection, he came close to resignation; the burden of the wicked enjoying mass prosperity was too much for him.

In verse 16 he makes a personal confession: "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me".  After lengthy contemplation, God's way still seemed tainted by iniquity.

What do we do with good things happening to bad people and bad things happening to good people?

I don't know if this is a fair question, as it assumes some people are always good.

Whether it is fair, the idea is clear.

There is a proper expectation that as people of God, we have his faithfulness in us, and his consequent rejection of the wicked.

But life still happens. In this world, we do not always see the righteous on top and the wicked at the bottom.

This is an implication of the problem of evil. Trying to unravel the perplexity of the problem of evil can often result in unresolved disappointments.

There is one solution to the problem of evil: get to the sanctuary of God. Go to the place of God's presence. You will see something there that you will not see in the courts of Justice.

You can hear Asaph lamenting in Psalm 73, verses 16-17:

"When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end."

The word "untill" is the point of contrast and change.

"Untill" points to a break in the proceedings.

The sanctuary is the place of equilibrium. It is the place where the topsy-turvy nature of life - sets itself on the solid rock.

The contrast between verse two and verse 18 could not be more vivid.

In verse two, Asaph says he almost slipped because he saw how carefree the wicked lived.

Now, in verse 18, he sees that the ground on which the wicked walk provides no sure footing.

It may seem that the wicked are riding high, but give it time. After a while, those who disregard God will come crashing to the ground.

The converse is our blessed assurance. We do not merely rejoice at the rejection of the wicked: we celebrate that their rejection indicates the eventual prosperity of the righteous.

The spiritual altitude of the sanctuary is the perch from which we see life as it actually is. It is as if you can hear Asaph saying in postmodern vernacular,

"When I walked in and the choir was singing 'How Great is our God,' my vision started to even up with God's vision like the lense of a camera.  What was fuzzy became clearer."

It takes what we see and hear in the sanctuary to help straighten life out. We all need a "Untill" moment.

Traffic can be the most difficult part of any trip. Every time Sue and I leave on a trip, I have Sue turn on the radio hoping to hear local traffic reports.

We tune in and if we are lucky, we get pertinent information relative to out trip.

Periodically, while listening to the radio, we can hear the helicopters moving in the background.

The person giving the traffic report is flying in a helicopter, which gives them to a larger vantage point.

The traffic report doesn't change the congestion; it just tells us what we can expect up ahead.

The traffic report doesn't move the accidents; it just tells us how to avoid them.

The traffic report doesn't eliminate our problematic trip; it just tells us how to navigate through it.

I may not be in the helicopter, but the station pays a reporter to get in there for me and stream back down to pavement level what's going on ahead of us.

The Bible and the sanctuary every Sabbath is our helicopter.

We come to the sanctuary every Saturday to worship and see things as they really are.

We get to see that every valley will be exalted, and every mountain will be made low.

We get to see that every rough place will be made plain, and every crooked place will be made straight.

We get to see that the workers of iniquity will soon be cut down and that they will wither like cut grass.

We get to see that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

We get to see that the wicked—though on top now—will soon be cut down, and we will be done with the trouble of the world.

God alone satisfies.  Psalm 73 gives us the blessed assurance that the faith of believers will one day be vindicated.

Our faith is confirmed when we realize the hope of glory. The future discloses the activity of God: he will expose the wicked as fantasies.

Allen Ross, who taught at the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry and at the Dallas Theological Seminary, and served as director of the Christian Leadership Center, in Tallahassee, Florida.  says it this way:

"Those who rebel against God will perish, but believers will find joy and safety in God's presence. We will know that the prosperity of the wicked was a sham. It was form without substance. When the wicked awake, they will see their prosperity was a dream."

My conclusion is this: God is our strength and our portion. This is why this psalm is in the Bible. We cannot give up on God.

The solution to Asaph's dilemma is the cure for our own. The nearness of God is our good. Ps. 73:28 says:

"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works."

Theologians call this the transcendence and immanence of God. Though God is so high that you cannot touch him, he has come so near that he touches you.

You can encourage the nearness of God. In the New Testament, James 4:8 says that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.

Those who reject God will face the force of spiritual gravity. Those who cling to God—though, at times, life seems to contradict the promise of his Word—eventually they will find a victorious outcome.

In Conclusion I want to leave you with this.

A couple of years back I was watching a college basketball game in the living room. It was a game charged with excitement and intensity: my favorite team was fighting to stay in the NCAA tournament.   They were losing by one point with less than a minute to play.

I was watching every play with scrutiny and intensity. I wanted my team to win. I sat there in my teams jersey, pretending as though I were sitting in the stands.

As the camera panned the crowd, you could see the people in the stands visibly moved. They were jumping, leaping, pounding on the bleachers, and screaming. I didn't move a muscle.

In fact, I sat and watched calmly. Given my passion for my team and how much I wanted them to win, anyone who knew me would wonder how I could sit so cool and collected with my team losing and less than a minute to go.

At that moment my wife walked into the living room and said to me, "Why are you're watching that game again, we saw them win last night?"

You see, I was watching a replay. I there was no need to get stressed, to sit on pins and needles. It was not because I did not care, it was because I already knew the outcome of the game.

Through the Word of God, we can see the future, too.  We live life knowing the outcome.

God judges the wicked because he is good.

Most of all never forget that God also rewards the righteous, ... because he is good.